Prophecies and fate; writing what you don't believe (was:The Second Prophecy

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 118363


vmonte wrote:
> 
> I don't believe in the prophecy either. I also think that the 
> prophecy seems to have thrown Dumbledore off his game. Dumbledore 
> always seems to know a lot more than he should, except for the 
> prophecy. I'm still inclined to think that Trelawny is a fraud. 
> Doesn't the prophecy call Voldemort The Dark Lord--sounds like 
> something a DE would utter. 
> 
> Is it possible that someone else is manipulating Trelawny? We've 
> already seen curses/spells that can manipulate wizards into doing 
> many things, why wouldn't someone use her for their own purposes. 
> <snip>

Carol responds:
I agree that the Prophecy is ambiguous and that DD *may* be wrong in
reading it to mean that Harry has to kill or be killed. (Admittedly, I
*want* him to be wrong here.) However, the Prophecy does seem to be
legitimate in that, like the Oracle of Delphi, Trelawney is speaking
ambiguous words that are not her own and that she can't remember when
the trance has passed. Like the ancient Greeks, historical and
mythical, who tried to thwart the oracles, Voldemort tried to kill
"the one with the power" but succeeded only in bringing about at least
part of the Prophecy ("marked him as his equal").

As for the reference to "the Dark Lord," that's only the typically
obscure and ominous language of Prophecies, in which, to my knowledge,
actual names are seldom or never used. In any case, Lord Voldemort is
not really Voldemort's name. Clearly Voldemort himself didn't plant
the Prophecy or he wouldn't be so anxious to know what it said, and it
makes no sense for one of his agents to plant it either, even if such
a thing could be done.

IOW, I think it's a real Prophecy, but the people it concerns will
bring it about through their own actions and (limited) choices at some
unspecified future time. I don't think the outcome of the final
conflict is predetermined, but the conflict itself must take place or
LV will be unstoppable.

As for whose voice is speaking through Trelawney, that, for me, is the
great mystery. It can't be Apollo, as it (supposedly) was for the
Oracle at Delphi, since the WW is not the ancient Greek world. Some
being or spirit which knows part but not all of the future? Did the
Druids have prophecies, and if so, who or what did they believe was
speaking to them?

Carol, doing her best to reconcile the prophecy with JKR's (and DD's)
belief in choice rather than fate